Sebastian Adisson and the Daughter of Hades
by JustABookCreeper
Summary: In this story, a Demeter child, Sebastian, goes on a mission to rescue a demigod from a school in Ottawa. What he does not know is that this particular student, in fact, is a bit different from other demigods. This is his journey, written in both their point of views, and it's full of surprises; not necessarily the good kind.
1. Chapter 1 : Emily's Point of View

The party was great until I walked over to the couch. Many people were dancing, some at the food table, and dubstep was playing loudly and reverberating in my head. This was a school party to celebrate the end of the year, and I sure wasn't celebrating. I hated parties, I hated them so much that every time the school had them, I would hide in a corner and do this weird thing I could do; doze out and make time pass really-quick so it was like there wasn't even a party in the first place. This time, though, the music was louder than usual and the dj was really into his beat, so I couldn't concentrate enough to do my thing, so I decided to go and sit in the couches on the edge of them room.

I had noticed that many people who were not from our school had attended the party, but I didn't mind. My boarding school, the Academy of Arts, wasn't so bad, but it rarely allowed guests, so I was a little concerned but happy for whoever got in. They must have been enjoying the party.

A guy in a light blue sweater was sitting on one of the couches, and next to him was a rarely-obtained empty space, so I walked over to sit down, but something distracted me. Next to the guy, an old man with spiky teeth and glowing black pit eyes had appeared. These creatures usually came around, and I didn't mind them unless they approached. I had quickly learned when I first came to the school that no one else could see them, so I considered myself special and freaked out my few friends when I could. They all thought I was joking about the appearances. In real life, I wasn't. They were always looking at me. Sometimes ladies in white dresses and their skin turned inside out would watch me sleep from the chair in my dorm room. I hated those nights, but again, they never came close.

The man with the pit eyes didn't bother me, but the fact that he had sat down on the empty place on the couch annoyed me. I really felt the need to sit down, so I gave him a please move stare. The guy in the blue sweater looked at me like I was strange, but something felt off.

Suddenly, the man with the pit eyes stood up. Everything got cold, and the music got shut off. All there was was silence, and everybody was confused. Then, the lady with the skin turned inside out appeared to his left, and plenty other appearances suddenly surrounded me. They all looked like horror-movie material, and they were slowly but surely walking towards me. I began stepping backwards, and I could feel eyes on me from my classmates.

The appearances were starting to go faster, and their bony fingers were reaching towards me as I was starting to panic. I began to walk backwards a lot faster, but they kept on following until I was against a corner. They were coming to kill me. Their red skin and pit eyes and bloody teeth were all coming closer, and all I could do was scream. I kicked my feet and could barely see the faces of my classmates against the consuming darkness, they were looking at me with a worried expression on their faces. They could not see the hands. When they got close, I kicked them away. I was scared. Terrified. Then, I felt other hands grabbing me, pulling me away from the creatures. Save me, I thought, save me before they get me. Save me. Save me.

All I could hear was my screaming. I was kicking madly at anything, but the hands were pulling me away from the creatures, although they were still following. I got one of the appearances in the leg and it let out a noise like a groan and nails on a chalkboard. All I could do was scream. I realized they were taking me, the hands pulling me were not fast enough, alarms were blaring in the distance, but they were taking my energy, my soul, everything inside me they were vacuuming into their pit eyes and bloody mouths and glistening fleshy skin, and I would not live if the hands didn't pull me away fast enough, I knew it.

I was still screaming a lung-ripping scream when I finally got out of the school doors. Where were they taking me, I wondered through my terror, but it had to be away from them. I couldn't kick anymore, all my energy was gone and I was limp, but still screaming. Then, a thought came to me. I concentrated and sent a bolt of my terror in their direction. I did not know who put the thought into my head but I was desperate to keep them away from me. The hands now carrying me were not fast enough, I had to do something. Then, a wall of terror seemed to block them off, but that was the last bit of strength that I had. Everything went dark.

The dakrnes lasted quite a while. I usually was aware of sleeping, and in this case, no dreams came like they usually did. Everything was pitch black, and in my subconsciousness I could feel myself moving, wind blowing against my skin and again, the arms carrying me. I am a small, scrawny, not very heavy person, but that is because the food at school tastes terrible so I barely eat anything. Most of the time I can only sleep four to five hours because of the lady watching me sleep, so the dark circles under my eyes are very pronounced against my pale skin. I never go outside as I have no reason to, I stay inside and read books and stay away from the appearances as much as I can, so I never get any sunlight.

The feeling of knowing that I am asleep is now gone, replaced by a slight red tone against my eyes. Is this a dream? I wonder through hazy brain activity. I do not know anymore. I do not know. All I can do is let myself be carried by the sleep I really need.


	2. Chapter 2 : Sebastian's Point of View

The girl I am holding in my arms is very small. She wears a skull hoodie and black leggings, showing how skinny she is, and her shoes are cloth boots tied up with thick laces. Her hair intrigues me most of all, it is black on top with green on the bottom. Her eyes are closed now, it is better than when they were open, full of terror at the things I could not see. She looks peaceful now, without the screaming earlier and the kicking, she almost looks like a little toddler girl. I know she is older, though, as the dance was for eighth graders, so she must be about thirteen. Unlike the girls in her class I saw at the party, no makeup covers her face, no jewelry lines her neck and only a plain black watch lies around her wrist. The wind is blowing her shoulder-length hair over her face and the moonlight makes her hands look blue. She is so pale, so frail, I wonder how she did not fall apart in pieces when the invisible _things_ started attacking her, but I know for sure she is the child of a god. Same as me, she is probably the offspring of a greek god and a mortal, but which one, I wonder? I know she is strong, the way she send that wall of terror at the invisible beings, I had felt it too. It must have taken a lot of strength to conjure that and I know she was drained from whatever the things were.

We are flying high over Canada now, the city of Ottawa just lights and flashes below us. Eureka, my pegasus, can fly quite fast, and I know we will arrive at camp in only a few hours. The winter air is cold, and I can feel the girl's cold hands through my sweatshirt, but I am not cold. Her face, her expression of pure horror really gave me an adrenaline rush, but I know that now that she is unconscious, she must be quite cold. I hold her tiny frame closer to my body.

In three hours, we arrive at Long Island and land in front of the giant pine tree that marks the border of camp. No monsters attack; since a few demigods overpowered Gaia the Earth Mother, monsters have been in remission, slowly gaining the strength they had lost during the battle. Many lives were lost, but I had miraculously survived even after getting my ribs impaled by a flying ball of flames. I guess being a son of Apollo helps quite a lot.

I know by the moon that it is three in the morning, and the camp is asleep. With luck, Chiron, the camp director, will be awake to help me get this girl into the sick room.

We land with a soft poof, and snowflakes fly up where Eureka steps on it. She is breathing hard, she has done a very good job. I pull out all the sugar cones from my pocket and feed them to her, and she nods twice, then she is gone. I take the girl's thin frame from the ground and put her in my arms and start trudging to camp.

Everything is silent, eerie, words that do not usually describe camp Half-Blood. Normally, the fire pit is on, the lava climbing wall is shuddering loudly and the naiads are splashing around, but the silence is deafening. I only hope that Chiron will be able to help; the small girl's skin is cold and she looks paler than ever. In the moonlight, her skin looks bright blue and mine a dark prussian blue color, and the snow looks like ice. I finally arrive at the Big House and breathe a sight of relief when I see a single candle lit in the center of the main room.

I kick the door with my foot hoping someone will open it, and surely, he does. Chiron is in wheelchair form now, his eyes sunken and tired. I wonder what he is doing up so late, but I have other matters to attend.

"Hello, Chiron," I say, my voice hoarse from the late hour, "I got her out. I don't know what happened, but I could feel some kind of monster there, although I couldn't see anything. She, amazingly, did something to keep them away," I say so fast I am out of breath. I just now realize that I have to keep her alive and we must get her warm before she becomes too cold.

"Sebastian, it is three in the morning, and you must be very tired. If you wish, you may sleep in the sick room with her, but you must sleep whatsoever. I'll take her," he says to me, and it seems like my whole body suddenly droops from exhaustion. Everything is fine. He'll save her. I could use some sleep.

"Chiron," I say as I follow him into the grey-walled room, "Would you have any idea what the following might be? They were invisible, yet I could feel their fury and horror as if their feelings were mine. They made grotesque noises, and she seemed to see them. They, I think, were taking her energy or something, because she became more and more limp as we were running away,"

"I do not know. I have never encountered such a beast. Were you sure she did something, some magic to keep them at bay?" He asks me back.

"Yes, I could feel it, though it was obvious it was her first time. She fell into unconsciousness right away," I say with worry. I am tired. We arrive to the sick room and he places the girl into a bed to my right, and I take the one to the left. The sheets are crisp, freshly washed, and smell nice. Perfect.

Chiron goes to the wall cabinet and gets a flask of nectar from one of the higher shelves. I notice that other people, all sleeping, are in here as well; a young boy with his arm in a wrap and an older girl with a huge bruise on her forehead. I slip into the bed fully clothed and struggle to keep my eyes open just a bit longer.

"Sleep," says Chiron as he attends the girl. Her hair looks greener than before in my blurry vision. I lay my glasses on the desk beside the bed and her forest green hair is all I see before falling into deep sleep.

It takes me a minute to remember where I am when I wake up. I instinctively reach to the desk at my side for my glasses and put them on, and as I see the canvas walls of the sick room, all the action from yesterday comes rushing back to me. I look over to my side, where I see a small clock marking it eleven a.m. Was I really asleep for that long? I look under the clock and see the girl, her eyes still closed, her body still limp, and I start to panic as I think she is dead. I reach over and touch her arm, and her skin is warm. I breathe a sigh of relief and doze for a few minutes, reflection on yesterday's events, or was it this morning? Then, I sit up and kick my feet out of bed. I realize I slept with my shoes on, but that's for the better, as now I don't have to put them on again. I get up and walk outside.

I pass the strawberry fields to my cabin, the Demeter one with the vines hanging from the top, and open the door loudly than intended, waking the two sleeping campers inside. Joah, one of the newer kids here, and Elizabeth, a girl about fifteen, both groan at the same time and start laughing. I laugh with them; they have been a couple for barely a month and already they do everything the same. They are cute together, Joah, just a young teen with light brown hair covering his eyebrows and Elizabeth with her long black hair tied in a messy braid at her side.

They both look at me, and their smiles fade. Demeter kids have a way of knowing when something is wrong, and just the looks they give me ask the questions they mean to ask.

"New camper," I say with a shrug, "I was on duty last night and strange things happened. She's okay now, she's in the sick room," I say and walk over to my bunk to grab my clothes.

"Who's her parent?" asks Joah, and I respond with another shrug. "We'll find out tonight at the latest."

I grab some sweatpants and an orage Camp Half-Blood shirt and rush into the bathrooms to get changed; I have cleaning duty in my cabin today and the campers coming around to check today are quite the fussy Aphrodite bunch. Since there are only five people in my cabin, we have to clean the room more often than some others. I vaguely wonder how Nico from the Hades cabin does it, as doing it once a week already frustrates me. Maybe he doesn't even make a mess; he doesn't seem like the kind of kid to like clutter.

I walk out of the bathroom stall and start making beds, as Joah and Elizabeth are both taking showers and everyone else is out. I put all the clothes on the floor into the big magical laundry bucket; in five minutes, everything will be clean and will flow over to its owner's bedside. It is a new addition to the cabins and I pretty much worship those things. Next, I take the broom from the side of the room and sweep the oak floor, then take a wipe from the sink and scrub the windows clean. When I am satisfied with my work, I put the cleaning supplies away in their cupboard and walk towards the sword fighting area.

Today I have archery class at two, right after lunch. On wednesdays I don't have any classes in the morning, so waking up late was not a nuisance to any of the teachers. I slightly skip to the center of the grassy sword arena and wave at my friend Brian from Hermes cabin. He jogs over to me and we fist bump, I then grab a sword and practice my moves freely.

"So, we got a new girl," he says as he too swings at the air.

"Yep, how'd you know?" I ask, already starting to go out of breath.

"I had nurse thing duty this morning. She's the one with the fancy green hair?" He asks as he takes a dive swing.

"Yes. Isn't she tiny?" I point out as I take a swipe at an imaginary enemy and dive roll away.

"She's cute," he declares as he dives toward his imaginary enemy and slices him in half. He stands proudly with a food up as to imitate it being on the head of his decapitated nothingness, and I burst out laughing at the proud expression on his face. He is a year-rounder and has never been in a fight. He would probably throw a party if he were to survive a battle and come out winner.

"She's probably not going to be into you, Brian," I say as I finish off my invisible opponent. "She was hiding in the corner during the party I went to to find her, and all the boys seemed to stay away from her as if they'd gotten the message. She doesn't seem like she's into boys," I say as I put my sword back onto the stand.

"Hmph. Why do Joah and Liz and so many others date and I still can't seem to find anyone?" He asks to the sky.

"probably because you're four feet eleven, fourteen and still wearing SpongeBob t-shirts, and the last time you tried to kiss a girl at a party your braces got stuck to her lip and you were standing there trying to gently get it unstuck from your teeth while she got more and more aggravated," I state jokingly.

"That _never_ happened! I never kissed anybody!" he says, defensively.

"Well it will, you know," I say matter-of-factly as we walk over to the dining hall. He punches my arm and I punch him back. Friendship is strange.


	3. Chapter 3 : Emily's Point of View

The ceiling above me is a light blue color, and the sun reflections on it move slowly but surely towards the next wall. I hear the sounds of people trying to be silent, but they are failing. The things they are holding often fall or wobble against what they are laying on, creating slight noises that are systematic and hypnotic. The room I am in smells fresh, like hand sanitizer and lemons. This place is nothing like my dorm room at school, and I sort of like it. It's peaceful in its own way.

Images of what happened at school flash through my mind, and I wonder what made the creatures come at me, and who took me away from them. I cannot feel their presence now, and I know I am safe, and that is all that matters. For the first time in a while, I have slept for longer than a few hours, and I feel great, but I do not know for how long I was asleep for. It is not on the top of my _questions I need to ask_ list, so I quickly dismiss the thought. Instead, I concentrate on where I am right now instead of dwelling on the past.

The bed I am in is crisp and smells like detergent, the mattress soft and mushy like foam. Light gives the room a yellow glow, making it seem magical in its own way. The people in the room, who I assume to be teenagers from the noise they are making, are walking around, but I can't move my head to see where they are going. In fact, I can only move my fingers, and even that seems to take a lot of energy. I know it's the monsters' fault, but I can't think about that if I want to remain sane.

I hear someone taking a seat at my side. A hand presses against my forehead and I imagine myself cringing even though I can not. A boy's voice speaks quietly to me.

"Hey, I'm Brian. What's your name?" he asks.

"Emily," I whisper back. He leans over so I can see his face. He is young, maybe fifteen, and when he smiles, metal flashes at my eyes. His eyes are a deep shade of green.

"Well, Emily, welcome to camp Half-Blood," he whispers back. As he sees my questioning glare, he cracks a smile and starts speaking.

"You're going to be here for a while. Possibly the whole summer, in fact," I don't mind that. I have no home anyways.

"See, you're not really a normal human. Do you know about Greek gods and mythology and all that?" I nod slightly. We were learning about them during the last term at school, and it was quite fascinating.

"Would you believe when I tell you they're actually real?" He asks me with a playful smile. I don't believe him, he is just joking with me to see my reaction. But then, how do I explain the monsters that no one else sees?

"Okay, you obviously don't believe me. Well, when you get out of bed soon enough, hopefully, you can see it for yourself, okay?" he asks. I raise an eyebrow and he gently pats my shoulder.

"You'll see. Are you hungry?" he half asks while reaching over the desk at my side as I nod. I have been half starving ever since I stepped into the Academy of Arts. I can't handle anything with a stinger taste than cheese, so I pretty much ate only yoghurt and fruits, sometimes soup, while at school.

He brings back a bowl of pasta, still hot, with parmesan sprinkled over the top. How did he know that was my favorite? He seems to notice my stare and quickly adds,

"Another proof Greek gods exist, these plates fill up with whatever you please. I'll show you," he then reaches over and grabs a cup from the desk. It's empty, but all of a sudden it's filled with Ginger Ale, my favorite soft drink. All I can think of is, what the hell? and a straw also magically appears. After the monsters at my school, this is only mildly surprising, thigh I am still intrigued as to how it does that.

Some of my strength is back already, so I push myself to a sitting position and put my head in my hands, because I'm suddenly dizzy. Am I that hungry? I grab the bowl of pasta from him (a spoon materialized) and I start eating.

"I'll leave you to your food," he says as he walks away to another bed. I realize I'm in an infirmary of some sort, as there are wounded people in the beds. Worried, I check myself for any cuts but I'm fine. I breathe a sigh of relief and eat my pasta. When I'm done, I'm still hungry, and some pudding appears in the bowl. All traces of pasta are gone, as if this one was new and just washed. My eyes open wide, but one thing my survival skills teacher always told me was to adapt. If this place had fancy self-refilling bowls, then so be it. I finish my pudding before I know it.

* * *

Three hours later, I can walk around, but there's nowhere to go. I don't know where I am, and even though I trust these people, I can't venture out on my own. I'd get lost trying to crawl out of a plastic bag. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a middle-aged man in a wheelchair roll into the room. He seems to be coming towards me. I make eye contact, smile a little, and he smiles back. I don't know what I'll say to him, but gladly he speaks first.

"Hello there. What's your name?" He asks. I say I'm Emily and look to my feet. I'm not the best at conversation because of my lack of social interactions. Most people at my school think i'm psycho, so they tend to avoid me.

"I assume Brian has told you a bit about this place?" he tells me using uptalk. I respond positively, and ask,

"Is it true? About the Greek gods?" in a hushed voice. He nods with a twinkle in his eyes, eyes that look like they've seen the world. My heart starts beating faster. I never believed in a God, and now I learn that this man believes there are hundreds. Or is he sure? I wonder.

"Why am I here?" I ask him.

"You, like everyone here, are a demigod, meaning you are the child of a god and a mortal human being. Therefore, you are not immortal but have some of the god's powers and some of his or her personality." He says matter-of-factly. If that's true, which I doubt it is, then why didn't he ever come to me? I've only ever had a mother, but she died when I was ten, in a helicopter accident. If a Greek god was my dad, then… Why didn't I know?

"How come I never knew that before?!" I ask, bewildered.

"Knowing would have made you more susceptible to monster attacks, so it's better you only knew now, in the safety of the camp," he says wisely. Suddenly everything clicks into place.

The monsters at my school. The ones only I could see. The wall of terror I sent in their direction. All of a sudden I believed everything, but that only makes me scared. "Who's my dad, then?" I ask him in a worried tone.

"Nobody but your mother knows yet. Do you mean that you live or know your mother by that?" He asks gently.

"Yes, but she died when I was ten," I tell him. He gives me a look that says he understands. I wonder if anyone close to him has ever passed away before. I wonder if he understands the feeling. "Who could my dad be?" I question.

"Any Greek god could be your father, and we will find out tonight at the latest for sure," he says smartly. Suddenly I'm really anxious to find out who he is, and why he never came to see me, why I've been stuck in a boarding school most of my life because there was nobody to take me in.

"So, this place is a camp?" I ask to steer the conversation away from the awkward topic of my parentage. He smiles and beckons me over to the door, and leads me to a porch overlooking the ripest strawberry field I have ever seen. People are milling around, picking them and putting them into woven baskets. Beyond the fields, there is only a forest like any other could be seen in eastern Canada. One pine tree, though, was a lot higher than all the others, towering over the forest like a king on a throne.

"This is camp Half-Blood, where you will learn to use your powers and keep them under control, fight with a sword, climb deadly walls, all in attempt to keep you safe from monsters when you leave. Of course, the year-rounders here have to take regular classes, same as schools across the world. It's up to you if you want to stay all year or not," he tells me as I stare at the beautiful scenery worthy of a painting. "You have all summer to decide," he says, but I already know I'll be staying here all year long if I can.

I look to the man in the wheelchair to ask for his name, but when I turn all I see is a white horse. Surprised, I jump backwards to avoid getting stampeded on, getting myself a good look at the horse's… torso? It looks like a regular human shirt and arms hanging at the sides, but when I look higher up, I see the man's face on top of the shirt. His lower body is a horse. I gape.

He chuckles and tells me, "Do not be scared. My name is Chiron, and the wheelchair was just a decoy for it not to be too much of a shock to newcomers like you. But yes, I am a centaur, and I hope you will not treat me any different than a normal human being," he says with a questioning tone in his voice. I just nod, unable to conjure up the right words for this situation, and we walk around the camp.


	4. Chapter 4 : Sebastian's Point of View

Lunch is pizza with french fries to celebrate summer. Tonight, fireworks will light up the sky, and the whole camp will go swimming in the lake and have an epic chicken-fight in the water. As I scrape a portion of my french fries into the fire pit for my mom Demeter, I see a small head of tied up green hair and smile. I'm glad the girl is alive and well. I mentally pat myself on the back, as it was my very first rescue mission.

The girl obviously does not know where to sit, so, to avoid making things awkward, I am about to invite her over to the Demeter table, but before I do, Brian is suddenly at my side, waving her over. She sees him and walks in our direction and sits with us. I see a portion of her slice is gone; she must have picked things up pretty quick here. Brian and her converse while eating their pizzas, but it's mostly Brian talking, and I'm sitting there awkwardly waiting for him to introduce us, as he obviously knows her. Finally, he notices my discomfort and presents her to me.

"Seb, this is Emily. Emily, Sebastian. She's from Ottawa too, you know," he says with a mouth full of pizza. Emily nods and stares at her feet while chewing on french fries.

"Well, nice to meet you, Emily. Any idea who your godly parent is yet?" I ask her out of curiosity. She just shrugs and says, "Nope. Your mother is Demeter?" and I nod while taking a bite. I mentally ask for a milkshake to my cup and it fills up automatically. I take a sip; it reminds me of home for some reason, when my dad used to make me and my baby brother some when summers got hot and our air vents went down. I miss them already; I'll only be seeing them in three months.

"So, how old are you?" I ask to make conversation. "I'm thirteen. You all?" She asks back. "Sixteen," Brian says proudly, even though I can see he is put down by how young she is. I on't know how he didn't realize she wasn't that old due to her size, but at least now he won't try and flirt with her. I smirk at him and say, "I'm fourteen. Are you gonna eat that?" I ask when she stops taking her french fries off the plate. She shakes her head and pushes it over to me. I gladly dip her fries in ketchup and eat them all.

"Well, we should probably get going. I've got archery, and I assume you guys do too," I say as I get up. I wave at the other Demeter people, who have gotten to complimenting Emily's hair, and go to the archery field to get some extra practice. I sort of suck at archery, but it makes me feel so relaxed I do as much of it as I can. Sometimes I'm forced to run from angry dryads who've gotten their trees shot at by suction arrows by accident, and during those times I'm glad they're suction-tipped, because if they were normal arrows, man. I would have been chased by an army of angry green people.

I stop mid-stride when I hear a growl from the forest in front of me. Frozen, I try to get a better look at where the sound came from, and silently grow sticky vines in a circle around me using my abilities out of instinct. I crane my neck to spot whatever it was, when glowing red eyes appear in the shadows of a bush. Then, a second pair of eyes, same level as the other one, appear as well, hence double the growling.

Then, the creature lunges. I get a split-second look at it and see two heads, possibly dog heads, connected at the spine to one big dog body. Their fangs are white as quartz, and look very, very sharp. My defenses kick in, and I scream and dive to the side. I only realize what a stupid idea that was when I fall in my own sticky vines. It takes me a split second to have them withdraw, and that's enough time for the monster to turn around and face me. Desperate, I break out into a sprint.

I have no weapons, as monsters are not capable of going into camp without being summoned, therefore weeping are not necessary to carry around. I left my dagger at the cabin, and I'm slow, as I just ate. The double-headed dog, which I now recognize as Orthrus from lessons at camp, pounces and lands on my back, sending me sprawling forwards. My hands hit the rocky ground in front of me and the skin tears at the palms; I yelp out in pain. Orthrus tries to bite my head, but both his heads are not synchronized so they end up going on either side of me, giving me a moment to escape. I quickly roll over and get up, as I spot a particularly jagged rock on the ground. I grab it desperately and swing it at him as he is coming coming close. The rock connects to his right jaw, and he growls and looks at me murderously. I throw the rock at his foot, disorienting him for a second, long enough for me to run to the archery field.

When I arrive, Orthrus is right at my feet, his dark red fur flapping in the wind and his jaws open with his teeth showing. Thankfully, Chiron is already there in horse form, a bow drawn tight, aiming towards one of the targets. I scream his name just as the arrow flies and hits dead centre. He turns over, spots the huge dog behind me and grabs an arrow. He places it quickly on his bow and aims, but I am in the way. With a nimble move I learned in sword fighting class, I dive quickly to the side and he lets the arrow fly. I hear the sound of sand falling to the ground, and I know that I am safe. That feeling is quickly gone, however, when pain flares up my calf. I moan and look at my leg, and see it's soaked with blood. All the adrenaline gone from my body, the pain is quite bad. How did I not notice the rip before?

My jean leg was soaked in crimson blood, and Chiron noticed. He quickly says, "Get on my back, we're going to the infirmary," and I push myself up, dangling my leg over the side to avoid getting any blood on him.

"Why the heck was that thing there?" I ask loudly enough for him to hear through his galloping.

"I do not know. Orthrus was slain by Hercules millenniums ago, though he most likely re-formed recently. I have no idea who would have summoned him," he says with worry. When we reach the sick room, he drops me off and I hop inside, where I am greeted with an Apollo kid who quickly sits me down and pulls my jean leg up. He gasps and exclaims, "Wow, that's going to need stitches. Stay still," he hands me some ambrosia and I take a big bite.

The next few minutes are very painful, but when the son of Apollo is done, I feel nothing. I look at my leg and barely see the stitches. "Thank you," I say as I get up.

"Don't run until tomorrow, when I take them off, 'kay?" he says while already going to work on another patient. I nod and walk fast outside. I need to go see Chiron. He might know what's going on. My priorities quickly change after I hear a collectible gasp from the dining hall. I change directions and walk towards the while marble hall quickly, and all I see is a small crowd of the campers who have not finished eating yet, and they seem to surround someone. I step on my tippy toes to get a better look at what's going on, and my heart skips a beat.

Emily is the one in the center. And around her, the ground is falling apart.


	5. Chapter 5 : Emily's Point of View

The ground. The white marble ground is falling apart, and it's doing so all around me and nowhere else. I don't want to die. I don't. I look up, and see all the campers left either reaching out for me or running away; those trying to get to me are way too far. I'm standing on only a small shard of white marble left, and it seems like it is a column going down into darkness below me. Everything else is falling into that pit. I don't think I want to know what's at the bottom, but at the same time I'm curious. The campers are screaming my name. Well, those who know it, anyways, but it all sounds distant and muffled as the little piece clinging upright I'm standing on crumbles, and I fall.

The first thing I notice when I can manage to breathe while falling is that it's completely dark. I look up, arms flailing, and I don't see the hole I fell through. I quickly start thinking of ways to slow my fall, and considering taking my heavy sweatshirt off and making a parachute. I try to slip out of it, but the wind is pressing it against me, and I can't. I breathe out in frustration. Even though I have nobody left who loves me and who I love, dying would suck when I had just discovered a whole new future for myself along my brethren. I could have found out who was my father, and who _I_ was, but nO. Had to fall down a deep dark pit. Had to.

I concentrate. I am not afraid of heights or falling; my nightmares took those fears away from me. I'm surprised I can think clearly, and start imagining ways to slow myself down, but something does it for me. All around me, I realize I can see. What I _do_ see is so strange I look again. To my right, it seems there is a cliff made of solid obsidian, quickly zooming by as I am going down, but it's still there. If there is a cliff, there is a bottom of a cliff. I look down and what I spot a tiny river snaking along red dirt, the whole place underground, but fluorescent red clouds cast ghastly lights around the place, and it's _huge._ The cavern was as big as Ottawa, both in length and height.

The river is zooming in below my, as I am getting closer. I realize I am probably going to splat instead of splash if I don't position myself to land correctly, so I make my self as vertical as possible, straight as a pencil, and fall even faster. Probably not the best idea. I decide to spread my arms until I crash into the now fifty feet across river, when I will quickly bring them down.

One hundred feet away. Fifty. Twenty. And then I hit the water.

I scream in agony underneath the coldest water I have ever been in. My whole body is numb with pain like knives cutting me open and all I want to do is let go, it's too much. The pain is unbearable. I want to breathe in a lung full of this subzero water and stop the pain, but something inside me reminds me to float up to the top, to hold my breath until I can breathe in the air here, and to haul myself to the edge. I open my eyes underwater and see the top of the river coming closer and closer, and I can't hold my breath anymore. Something dives into the river as well and everything goes dark.

The nightmares begin as soon as I lose consciousness.

I am four in this dream. My hair is long to my butt, and I am surrounded by so many objects. I seem to be alone… until I spot my mother. She is standing in front of me, her bright red hair tied in a loose ponytail behind her. She is wearing a simple black dress with lace going down her arms. She brings one of the objects closer to me and says, "Emily. I want you to make this object disappear." I touch it, laughing, which brings a smile to my mother's usually sad face, and concentrate as much as I can, which is not very much for a toddler. I say, "bye bye," and the object seems to melt away in a pool of oil, and then that goes away, too. My mom claps my hand and says, "Now, can you make it come back?" I'm already tired and I want to nap, but I think of the object that disappeared and place my hand out in front of me, and the object appears again. I look at it for a moment and I see it's a little figurine of a fairy, but I had sharpied her dress in dark purple, and her eyes were faded away, leaving them white as marble. I loved that toy. I say to my mom, "I'm sleepy now. Go shut-eye?" She smiles warmly and takes me into her arms to my little bed next to her own. She places me down and I close my eyes.

When I open them again, I look down at myself. I look about seven. I am wearing a red tank top and a black skirt, but my feet are bare in the grass. I recognize what is going on; my mom is sitting in a chair across the small lawn, with the side of the bench free beside her. I run to the door of our apartment complex, look back at her, and she nods. I walk in, and right as I do, I sit down; I am on the bench next to my mom. She smiles big and hugs me. I feel accomplished. We go inside and have dinner, which is my favorite : Pasta with a mountain of parmesan cheese on top. She has put sauce on hers. To annoy her, I scoop a big glob of my cheese and put it on top of her elbow pasta. She then puts it right back into my bowl with a bit of sauce now on it. Meticulously, I take the sauce in my spoon and eat it, leaving all the untouched cheese behind. I make a sour face, and my mom laughs at me, and I laugh too.

Then, my mom's face goes slack. She stares straight ahead of her, and I know something's wrong. Her eyes are completely white, like my old toy's. She reaches forward and smacks my bowl off the table, having it shatter to the ground. I scream and run up the stairs, but she is on her feet and following me. She grabs the back of my skirt and it rips off, exposing my shorts underneath. I run faster than I ever thought I could, but she is chasing me with her hands searching for any bit of my skin. I scream, and start to cry as I run. I then remember the trick she taught me, and I run to a corner in my room. The next thing I know, I am standing in the middle of the mall, and I faint, exhausted.

I wake up in an ambulance. I know I had been crying in my sleep, as my face is wet with tears. The paramedic says soothing words to me as the ambulance drives away. She tells me my mother is in the hospital, waiting for me, and I start freaking out. I trash and kick all I can, but a needle goes through my arm and I can't move anymore. My eyes give one last pleading look to the paramedic, then everything goes dark.

In my dream, I remember waking up in a hospital bed, my mom crying beside me, back to normal. She kept on apologizing, kept muttering something about evil gods taking control of her, and I cry with her too, because I am scared for her, of what she could do. I now realize she had been possessed by one of the gods I now know. She was fine after that though, but that day never left my mind. For months I had terrible nightmares, and was seriously sleep deprived by age eight. I guess those things never left me.

I realize I am cold. Soaking wet, in fact, and I also realize I am coming back to consciousness. How long has it been? An hour? A day? If I am still wet, it couldn't have been too long, right? I can feel cold stone floor beneath my fingers, I am lying down on hard ground. A dim red light shines through my eyelids, but it's so faint I can barely detect it. I hear no movement around me, but it isn't silent. In the distance, I can hear faint voices, shrill and high as if they are complaining. I can hear music, too, Mozart style, and it sort of sounds like a medieval gym class. I try to raise my head, but it feels as heavy as lead, and my shoulders ache. I manage to open my eyes, and I can see shoes.

About twenty feet in front of me, black polished shoes shine with dim light, and I slowly make my way up. I see a gown made of swirling faces, all seem to be screaming. Hands clasp armrests that seem to be made of bone, and finally, a ban with long black hair with a ghostly pale face and deep, dark eyes, seem to stare at the wall behind me. I know immediately who this man is. He is Hades. He is my father.


	6. Chapter 6 : Sebastian's Point of View

I messed up. I really did.

I was supposed to protect her until she figured out how to protect herself. Me, as her friend, was supposed to care for her, and because of MY actions, my naiveness, she fell down that hole. While I was busy cowardly running from big dogs, she fell to who-knows-where. Well, that's not true. We all know what are the options when you fall down a magical hole, and both of them aren't pretty. Suddenly, a realization hits me.

How had I not noticed before? The pale skin, small figure, social awkwardness, and the dark powers? I gape. Emily is a daughter of Hades, I know it. I think of running to Chiron, but decide otherwise. He'll find out on his own terms, and he probably already has. I need to talk to Nico di Angelo; he needs to know.

I run to where I think he will be, he has been busy remodeling the Hades cabin recently. I knock hard on the door, but the noise I make is drowned out by loud bangs like a hammer hitting stone inside the cabin itself. Gathering all the little strength I have, I yell, "NICO! OPEN UP!" and knock even harder. A small, darkly dressed figure with tangled dark brown hair opens the door and steps outside, closing it behind him and partly shutting off the banging noises. Nico di Angelo squints for a few seconds before recognizing me, and breathes a sight of relief.

"Gods, I thought you were one of those Aphrodite kids complaining about the noise again. Man, they're annoying," he says to me.

"Nico, look, I have to tell you something important. Like, _really_ important, but I need you to keep it from the general public until they're ready to know, okay?" I ask nervously.

"Sebastian, what is it?" he asks worriedly. I heard the stories, what he's been through, and I know he has every right to be worried. "It's Emily. I'm pretty sure - I'm pretty sure she's a daughter of Hades." Nico just stares at me, dumbfounded.

" _What_?" he asks. I just nod really quickly and look around me. Nico does the same, but I keep talking. "There's something else, too, and that's the main reason I came here. She just fell into a hole in the ground, a hole which just _appeared_ out of complete nowhere, and now she's gone," I say just as horns blare in the distance. "Can you tell where she went?!" I press urgently. He comes out of his stupor, blinks a few times, and nods gravely.

"She's… in my father's realm, I think, in the Underworld, barely conscious but still alive. Wait… She's completely fine now, I think. What in hell?" he asks, amazed. "I don't know if I should go or not. If she's visiting father… Are you sure she's also a Hades kid?" he asks me.

"I'm pretty close," I respond with a frown.

"Okay. I'll pay close attention to her life force, but if she's where I think she is, I assume she'll be fine. Don't worry about her, though, if anything happens, I'll just go help her out," he tells me, but I still worry. A lot.

"Nico… Are you sure she's all right? The Underworld is really far down, and… She's really powerful, I know it. She already knows about her abilities," I say, partly convincing myself. Nico nods slightly, and responds.

"It could be likely. It's not often children of the Big Three can live that long without training, so I bet her abilities helped her out, but I just wonder how she didn't get spotted earlier, you know?" he looks at me with an expression of worry. "I'll just… Go back inside now," he says. I nod, and he slips inside, looking down as a shower of wood shavings rain lightly onto the floor inside. He closes the door behind him, and I walk towards my cabin. I don't think I'll be able to do anything except archery today because of my leg, so I have ten minutes before class commences.

In my cabin, the head counsellor, Miranda Gardiner, is sitting on her bunk staring at the opposite wall. As I walk in, she distractedly looks my way then sighs, and puts her head in her hand. "Emily just fell down a hole in the earth and there's nothing we can do. How is that right? I can't just stand here and do nothing!" She says, suddenly agitated, and blows out air to flip a strand of caramel hair back onto her head. "I know, but I also know… Never mind," I catch myself. I almost mentioned that I knew she was fine. _That_ would have created quite some questions. I flop onto my bed and tuck my knees in, then wince. I had almost forgot about my cut.

"You alright?" she asks, glancing in my direction, and I nod. "There was this big two headed dog in camp near the Archery range. Orthrus, I think; and Chiron killed him. He was just there, in the camp… That really worries me," I murmur, and she stares at me with her eyes suddenly wide open. "What!? How did I not know about this? This is a really big deal, Seb!" she exclaims and stands up so quickly she bumps her head against the bunk on top of her own. "ow," she says, rubbing her head, but she still looks perplexed. I gotta go see Chiron about this. Bye," she says as she walks out of the cabin, bumping her shoulder against the doorframe on the way. She mutters curses towards the wall and stomps in the direction of the Big House.

I put some hand protectors on and head towards the archery range again, worry for Emily still visible on my face. When I arrive, a few campers are shooting arrows at the straw targets, but Chiron is nowhere near. As I approach the bow stand, I hear murmurs along my fellow demigods, especially from the two Apollo kids closest to me. I walk towards an unused target and ready my bow. I concentrate on the little red circle in the target's centre and shoot, the arrow's end nearly ripping my cheek off. It lands on the white outer rim, but at least I hit the target this time. As it burrows itself in the hay, I remember the two-headed dog and shiver. I can't believe I was this close to dying without even putting up a fight. Man, if Chiron hadn't been there, I would have been dog food. I really need to learn to be better in combat.

I notch another arrow, and steal a glance at Kayla, one of the Apollo kids. Her scarred arms are holding her bow in a perfect position, and her knees are ever so slightly bent. She looks intently at the target, wearing no expression on her face. Every part of her, except her arms, is relaxed. She lets the arrow fly and it hits the target dead centre. She high fives Austin, who is standing next to her. I concentrate on my own stance. My legs are stiff as a board, so I relax and bend my knees a little, I relax my face and concentrate on my target. I pull the arrow back, and breathe in, breathe out, let go. The arrow hits the yellow next to the target's middle. I smile slightly, proud, then hear the _thud_ of synchronized arrows hitting targets to my right. Kayla and Austin smile sheepishly at each other, the red of their targets impaled, again, dead center, and that wipes the smile off my face.

As I set arrow after arrow, all I think about is Emily, and the moment when she fell from the face of the earth.


	7. Chapter 7 : Emily's Point of View

Hades, the freaking god of the dead, seems to notice I am awake, and waves his hand. Suddenly, all my pain is gone, and I feel healthy and light. It is a strange power for the god of the Underworld to have. Out of instinct, I walk towards him, bow down, and mumble, "Father." I knew since I came to camp that my father was a Greek god, but now that I know, I feel oddly calm. This is my reality, this my world. My father is the lord of the Underworld, straight from the myths I heard in school, then so be it. I won't let that change who I am.

Around me, polished black obsidian walls gleam with candlelight, and the ceiling is gray stone. Webbed chandeliers hand from it, the candles casting a gloomy glow around what seems like a throne room. Doors on the wall facing me lead off into infinite corridors.

I look up, and Hades' eyes are gleaming as if he is either a genius or a madman. I suppose eternity in a cave does that to people. In the distance, I hear screaming, but I don't know what that's all about, so I ignore it for now and hope it isn't anyone I love. I notice my father has passed some of his looks down to me; the pale skin, dark eyes and black hair, but the similarities end there. His lips suggest a smile as he speaks.

"Emily Parson. I am glad to see you alive," he says, and I raise an eyebrow. His booming voice holds a hint of pride, but it's so faint it's almost inexistent. "Where was I? I mean, when I fell through the hole?" I ask warily.

"That is to remain unsaid for now, but I assure you I had nothing to do with it. In fact, if I had not ordered one of my faithful Daemons to get you out of the river, you would have drowned to death," he said in a calm tone. I frown. "Who tried to kill me? And which river? What do you mean, a demon?" Hades smiles warmly, or as warm as death can be, anyways. "What matters is that you are here now, because we must talk, even though we have little time. I suspect your… friends, are looking for you at this moment," I notice how he hesitated at 'friends'. He probably knows what it feels like to be alone, and I can relate.

"Why do you need to talk to me now? You could have just gone on _ignoring_ me for the rest of my life and it wouldn't have made a damn difference!" I accuse. He doesn't even flinch at my biting tone. "You see, Emily, you are in danger. In greater danger than other demigods. You are wanted dead by gods and monsters alike, and as much as I would like to see my children more often, I do not wish early death upon any of them. You must stay inside the camp, keep a low profile and try not to upset the gods more than they are now, so to speak," he says to me.

"Why are they mad at me in the first place?" I question. "That is of old matters. What is important is that you do as I say if you want to live. Do you understand?" he asks, but I know he only expects one answer. I nod, and his smile returns.

"I have been keeping an eye on you, ever since you caught my attention when you first discovered your abilities, and I already know I will be proud of you," he says. I mentally picture him spying on me all my life, and think, _creepy stalker dad?_ as I bow one last time, suppressing the urge to slap that little smile off his face. He could have saved me from the horrid cafeteria food, and… suddenly I remember.

"Father, what were those things that… haunted me at school?" I ask him. "Ah, they are old spirits who have come to haunt you, but you dispelled them for a while. _Manias,_ you can call them. I do not know how they came to be, but know that they won't bother you anymore," he says, and then stands. "I assume you know how to shadow-travel?" he asks me. "If you mean materializing from one place to another, then yeah, I figured it out. Oh… but I've never done it very far," I realize.

"I will lend you some of my strength for your trip, but know that once you reach the upper world, the temporary blessing I have cast upon you will dissipate, but you will be fine," he says as he thrusts a hand in my direction. I feel power coursing through my veins, and know that my shadow-travel, as he called it, will work just fine.

"Beware the lake," is the last thing he tells me before I melt into the shadows, away from this place. As I travel through the cold nothingness, I think, _why would I beware the lake?_ but it takes most of my concentration to picture my destination. I think of somewhere where I could go back to camp but without causing a scene and attracting too many people, as I doubt my fall into the void went unnoticed. As I am done picturing my destination, I feel myself landing on firm ground, but the pain is back, and I feel exhausted. Whatever gripped me in that river feels like it's clawing at my shoulders over and over again, and I can already smell blood. Whatever my father's temporary blessing was, it's gone now. My brain feels like it's swimming around in my head, and my knees buckle. I think a nice nap won't do me any bad, so I fall over to the side, close my eyes, and head into a dreamless sleep.


	8. Chapter 8 : Sebastian's Point of View

I notched the last arrow I had in my quiver, and I was ready to break down into tears. I had scraped up my hands failing to hold the arrows correctly, and I was overwhelmed that I may have gotten another camper killed by being irresponsible. I think about all that, and decide that if I'm going to burst out in tears of frustration, I might as well not make a big scene out of it. I head over to one spot I know will be empty.

The cabins surrounding the fire pit form a slightly circular shape, and on the outer edge of the circle, behind the cabins, is light forests with full green leaves blocking out most of the sun. I walk around the cabin backs until I come across the Demeter back wall. Thick vines filled with nice, sweet-smelling flowers make the wall look like part of the forest, and the grass down here is long, green, and unstepped on. I look around my secret spot, and all my worries go away. It's little places like these that make Camp Half-Blood special. Then, my eyes fall upon a dark shape huddled on the ground.

Caught off guard, I jump backwards and stifle a scream of surprise. The shape is humanoid, wearing dark clothing, and its hair… matches with the grass. It's Emily. "Emily! Are you okay?" I ask as I go over to shake her shoulder, but she doesn't budge. I notice that her sweatshirt feels slimy, and as I take my hands off her shoulders, they come back tinted crimson with blood. I frantically wipe them on the grass; blood grosses me out when it's not mine. Emily's shoulders are bleeding, I realize. I pick her up; she is much lighter than I expected, and I carry her towards the place I know she will be taken good care of. The walk to the Hades cabin isn't too long.

I don't bother knocking on the door. I kick my foot up to the handle and pull it down with my heel, and the door opens. As I walk in, I notice the builders are gone, and it's silent. The inside of the cabin looks creepy, but less than it did before Nico took it to himself to re-decorate completely. The bunk beds don't look like coffins anymore, but like regular cabin beds, and windows have been placed all around the room. Deep purple carpet lines the floor, and Greek fire candles hang on the wall. To the left, a desk has been put out, and I spot the son of Hades sleeping on a pile of blueprints, his pale hand hanging off the side.

I whisper loudly, "Nico!" but he doesn't wake up. His light snoring continues. I nudge his hand with my foot, and he slightly opens one eye, seems to register nothing, and closes it again. This time, I kick his hand a wee bit harder, and both his eyes open. "Uh, Hi. What are you doing here?" he asks in the middle of a yawn. Then, he notices Emily cradled in my arms. "Is that…?" he asks, suddenly wide awake. I nod and say, "I think she's hurt. Her shoulders are bleeding," "She's asleep, I think. Why didn't you take her to the infirmary?" he asks. "It would have caused a scene. She wouldn't have liked that," I wince at my own words. Since when do I care about people's peace of mind more than their safety? "Maybe we could call one of the Apollo guys over. I think they're done with their archery," he says as he rushes out. "You can set her down on any bed," he adds before closing the door behind him. I pick the lower bunk to the right and put her down on top of it, and take her sweatshirt off, revealing an _American Horror Story_ shirt, with what looks like claw marks at her shoulders. I am so glad she's still alive.

A minute later, Nico comes rushing back in, trailing Kayla behind him, a serious expression on her face and a white bag at her side. She says a quick hello and kneels at Emily's side.

"Okay, it's not too bad, bud you did well calling me over. Hold this," she hands me the white bag as she opens it and pulls out supplies. "Do you know what did that to her?" I ask her. "A daemon, probably. She most likely took a trip to the Underworld, but I can't be sure. One of Hades's minions. Some monster," she says as she takes out a flask of nectar and pours some onto Emily's shoulders. The wounds start closing immediately.

"Just let her sleep. She'll be fine once she wakes up," says Kayla as she zips up her bag and stands up to leave. "Thank you, Kayla," says Nico before she exits through the door. "No problem," she answers back before closing the door behind her.

 _Well, at least she isn't dying,_ I think. Then I notice her hair is damp and tears are running down her cheeks. "Nico, look," I point out to him. He frowns and then nods as if he understands. "If she went to the Underworld and survived the drop, she probably fell into one of the rivers. Either the Cocytus or the Lethe, but we'll find out which one. If she remembers nothing, it's the Lethe. Otherwise, it's the Cocytus." he tells me. I then assume the tears are just her nightmares, but I have the strong urge to pull her into a hug and tell her everything will be okay.

"Should we tell Chiron she's back?" I ask him. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll sleep at her side until she wakes up, I guess. Just… don't come back until she's ready, okay? She'll come out on her own time. Visiting the Underworld can be shocking." he responds and starts walking towards his own bed. Before I close the door behind me, I sneak another peek at Emily, smile, and shut the door silently.

When I arrive at the Big House, I knock on the front door and Mr. D, the camp director, opens the door in the middle of a huge yawn. He is wearing a blue and yellow hawaiian print shirt and Birkenstocks. His face is red as always, and the buttons on his shirt threatening to pop.

"Uh, hello," he says. "Who are you again?"

"Sebastian, from Demeter cabin. I need to speak to Chiron," I say as reasonably as possible.

" _Sir_ " he says through gritted teeth.

"I need to speak to Chiron, sir," I repeat. He waves his arm, grunts incoherently, and waves me inside.

"He's on the second floor. Now go before I turn you into an insect," he says as he comes back in. I nod and quickly make my way up the flight of stairs to the right of the door. The wood creaks under my feet and I realize I've never been to the second floor. The windows are always blinded off from the inside and nobody really knows what's up there. I walk in a huge expanse of nothing.

The floor itself is just that - a floor. There are a few windows here and there, but thick curtains only let in slivers of daytime. I look around, and in the corner, spot the back of a white stallion. Chiron.

"Uh, Chiron…" my voice dies quickly when I realize he's Iris-Messaging - a form of communication used by gods and demigods that requires a rainbow and a golden _Drachma._ He turns to look at me, and for a split second I see the other end of the rainbow - I mean the Iris-message. And what I see isn't pretty. Right before I can really notice what's going on, his tail swishes across the rainbow and it disappears. How there was a rainbow without sunlight, I don't know; it must have been some sort of magic.

He tries for a smile and says, "Hello, Sebastian."

"Hello, Chiron," I answer. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, no. Do not worry. What are you here for?" his eyes are kind but seem to be focusing elsewhere, a dimension that I can't see.

"Emily's back. We just found her at the back of the Hades cabin, her shoulders bleeding, but we brought Kayla over and she's fine, sleeping now." I say. Some of the worry goes away in the centaur's eyes.

"That is well. Although, why didn't you bring her to the infirmary?" he asks, and I answer that she would not have liked to cause a scene, and the cabin was closer. He nods, and speaks.

"Well, thank you, Sebastian, for informing me. I hope she wakes up soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go speak to Mr. D," he says as he starts walking - or whatever horses do - to the staircase. I take that as a sign to leave, so I say goodbye and rush out of the House.


End file.
